Nikkei in Cautious Advance; Renesas, Sony, Panasonic in Focus

Nigel Thomas
29 May, 2012
New York City

Stocks in Tokyo gained but pared earlier gains on domestic corporate and the euro zone export worries. Panasonic, Renesas and Sony were in focus. Rising bond yields in the peripheral euro zone also stoked fears of another financial contagion in the currency union.

[R]8:30 PM Tokyo – Stocks in Tokyo gained but pared earlier gains on domestic corporate and the euro zone export worries. Panasonic, Renesas and Sony were in focus. Rising bond yields in the peripheral euro zone also stoked fears of another financial contagion in the currency union.[/R]

Stocks in Tokyo traded higher but gains were trimmed on domestic corporate worries and the Spain regained focus in the euro zone.

Sony, Panasonic and Renesas dropped after investors feared more losses and rising competition from Taiwanese and Korean makers and job losses at Panasonic.

Sources at Panasonic confirmed a report in Nikkei business daily that headquarter staff of 7,000 may be slashed by half as the company battles sustained losses and may shift some of its production at international locations.

Sony fell on the worries that the company may struggle to turnaround its television unit and may be forced to partner with South Korean companies to lower its production cost and also share some of its technology.

Renesas dropped 12% after the chipmaker confirmed it is in talks to outsource its high end chip production to Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co.

The Nikkei 225 Stock Average increased 63.93 to 8,657.08 and the broader Topix index rose 5.92 to 727.03.

The indexes were lower after Spanish bond yields rose in the euro zone on Monday and the spreads to German bunds increased above 5%. The yields on benchmark 10-year bonds rose for Italy and Spain as the nations battle to avoid a multi-billion bailout from the European Central Bank and other lending agencies that may demand more austerity measures.

Stock Movers

Renesas Electronics plunged 16.4% to 204 yen after the company confirmed that it plans to sell its loss making units and eliminate 12,000 jobs.

Kansai Electric Power Company, Inc slipped 20 yen to 1,071 yen and Tokyo Electric Power added 1 yen to 153 yen.

Toyota Motor gained 10 yen to 3,080 yen and Honda Motor Co. increased 19 yen to 2,555 yen and Nissan Motor Co Ltd rose 3 yen to 757 yen.

Sony Corp advanced 24 yen to close at 1,072 yen but fell sharply in the session, Panasonic Corp closed up at 20 yen to 536 yen and Canon Inc unchanged to 3,280 yen. Toshiba rose 2 yen to 302 yen.

Olympus Corp gained 34 yen to 1,167 yen, Nikon advanced 53 yen to 2,144 yen and Fanuc Ltd increased 250 yen to 13,880 yen. Hitachi Ltd rose 4 yen to 459 yen.

Komatsu Ltd closed up at 60 yen to 1,952 yen, Hitachi Construction Machinery Co increased 63 yen to 1,570 yen.

Inpex Corp rose 1.9% to 464,000 yen and Japan Petroleum Exploration Co. gained 69 yen to 2,996 yen.

Mitsui O.S.K. Lines, Ltd added 13 yen to 282 yen; Kawasaki Kisen Kaisha, Ltd closed up 8 yen to 147 yen and Nippon Yusen K.K. increased 9 yen to 212 yen.

Nippon Electric Glass Co Ltd added 5 yen to 505 yen and Asahi Glass Co Ltd gained 9 yen to 551 yen.

Fast Retailing Co. advanced 70 yen to 17,660 yen and J. Front Retailing Co. Ltd fell 1 yen to 365 yen.

Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group added 6 yen to 349 yen and Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group increased 18 yen to 2,331 yen. Nomura Holdings, Inc closed up at 5 yen to 264 yen.

Credit Saison Co Ltd rose 4 yen to 1,577 yen.

Tokyo Tatemono Co., Ltd closed up at 6 yen to 254 yen and Mitsui Fudosan advanced 29 yen to 1,339 yen and Sumitomo Realty & Development Co. increased 24 yen to 1,702 yen.

Nippon Steel added 4 yen to 176 yen and JFE Holdings Inc gained 38 yen to 1,278 yen.